Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Gordie Howe hat trick

When three of the day's corrections are from stories about Canada, you're entitled to wonder if the Nation's Newspaper of Record gets anything right at all about our neighbor to the south:

The Inside The Times article on Friday about the close attention paid to indigenous people and their culture in Canadian media relative to media in the United States misstated the province in which indigenous groups account for nearly 17 percent of the population. It is Manitoba, not British Columbia.

An article on Monday about communities in Northern Canada affected by receding sea ice gave the incorrect age for Derrick Pottle when he moved to Happy Valley-Goose Bay from Rigolet as a child. He was 11 years old, not 9.*

... An article on Monday about a New York Times Twitter account being accidentally locked referred incorrectly to the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a single province, not two separate provinces.

There is also, of course, the usual confusion about proper names:Because of an editing error, a subheading in the Scoreboard column on Saturday about a fine for an Arizona Cardinals receiver misstated his surname. As the article correctly noted, he is Larry Fitzgerald, not Fitzpatrick.

A film review on Friday about the documentary “Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars” misidentified one of the musicians who inspired Eric Clapton. It was Little Walter, not Little Milton.Yes, all those people whose first name is Larry look alike. Yes, all those blues players whose first name is Little look alike. On the bright side, at least the Times no longer seems to think they're all blind.*** And thanks to Fish for the meta-correction here.** Would a "because of a reporting error" on the last one there be too much to ask?